Support device for potted plants and the like

ABSTRACT

A device for supporting potted plants and the like, comprising a saucer and at least one support pin which can be fitted to the rim of the saucer so as to support at its upper part a plant stem or stalk which stretches upwards from a plant pot resting on the saucer.

The invention relates to a device for supporting potted plants and thelike, comprising a saucer and at least one support pin which can befitted to the rim of the saucer so as to support at its upper part aplant stem or stalk which stretches upwards from a plant pot resting onthe saucer.

Plant supporting devices of the aforesaid kind are known from NO-B-141585, AT-C-327 598 and FR-A-1 254 850, for instance. The known plantsupport devices thus obviate the need of inserting a pin or stick intothe soil contained in a plant pot. Publications AT-C-327 598 andNO-B-141 585 also disclose that the vertical plant-supporting pin shallbe provided with a support arm which extends horizontally or obliquelyupwards, such as to essentially intersect the vertical axis that extendsthrough the vertical centre axis of the saucer or plant pot, so as toenable, for instance, a central plant stem in the pot to be tied at theintersection axis.

One problem with such plant support devices, however, is that thecentrally located plant-securing point cannot be displaced vertically,for instance to accompany upward growth movement of the stems or stalksof the plant. For instance, a plant-securing ring fixed to the stem ofthe plant is unable to move upwards along the central axis while guidedby the pin, and no higher located part of the pin is found adjacent thegrowing central plant stem.

An object of the present invention is therefore to provide a device withwhich the aforesaid drawback is avoided.

This object is achieved with a plant-supporting device defined in thefollowing claim 1.

Further embodiments of the invention are set forth in the followingdependent claims.

The advantages afforded by the fundamental concept of the invention andits further developments as defined in the dependent claims will beobvious to the skilled person, and the invention provides a devicewhich, among other things, enables the centre of gravity of the growingplant to be easily kept at a central vertical axis, and also enables apair of guide pins or sticks to be fastened alternatively to the saucerso as to form a basic structure to which a latticework or the like canbe fitted, for instance when growing climbing or trailing plants.

According to one embodiment, the invention requires a plant pot fromwhich a central plant stem grows to be placed centrally on a pot saucerwhich forms part of the inventive device. The saucer is provided with avertical bore or hole in two mutually diametrically opposed rim regionsof the saucer. A support pin can be pushed firmly into the bore, and thepin will preferably have stabilizing fingers which are in stabilizingcontact with the saucer wall at two pin positions which are mutuallyseparated by an angle of 180°.

The support pin includes two longitudinally separated and generallystraight sections which are mutually connected by a spacer orintermediate section. The parallel displacement corresponds generally tothe distance between the saucer centre axis to the bore in the rim ofthe saucer. One or two such pins can be fitted on the saucer rim, sothat the upper part of the pin/pins will be directed generallyvertically and located in the vicinity of a vertical axis that passesthrough the centre of the saucer, wherein the main plane of the sauceris thus a plane which lies normal to said axis. This enables the plantstem to be very easily tied or otherwise secured to the pin/pins andenables the tie to be moved upwards in relation to the pin.

Two support pins of the inventive kind can also be attached todiametrically opposing saucer edges in corresponding rotationalpositions, such that the aforesaid parts of the pin will lie in a commonaxial plane to the saucer, with the free pin-parts located at thegreatest distance from the axis. Connecting elements can be used toextend the upper pin-parts vertically and/or to mutually connect thetwo, possibly extended upper ends of the support pins, so that togetherthey form a frame in which trailing or climbing plants can be tied so asto be located in the axial plane of the saucer and the pot andpreferably weight-centred in relation to the centre axis of said saucerand pot.

The inventive plant supporting device enables deviation of the centre ofgravity of the plant from the central vertical axis of the saucer andthe pot to be prevented in the best possible way, and to an extent whichwill not jeopardize the stability of the plant and pot unit.

Another advantage afforded by the inventive plant-supporting device isthat when the supporting pins are positioned so that their upper partslie close to the centre axis of the saucer, the upper part/parts of thesupporting pin/pins can be hidden behind or among the leaves of theplant in a particularly effective manner.

Because the upper part of the pin is located level with the growth axisof a central plant stem, the stem can be tied or otherwise secured tothe pin or pins higher up as the height of the stem increases withgrowth.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to anexemplifying embodiment thereof and also with reference to theaccompanying drawing, in which

FIG. 1 is a schematic axial section view of an inventive devicesupporting a potted plant in a pot seated on a pot saucer;

FIG. 2 is a view taken on the line II--II in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 and shows the supporting pin ina rotational position which deviates through one-half turn from theposition shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic axial section view of an inventive device mountedto form a tying frame for a trailing or climbing plant;

FIG. 5 illustrates schematically an alternative embodiment of a pinattachment point on the plant pot, and illustrates the end-part of thepin in engagement with the pot; and

FIG. 6 is a view taken on the line VI--VI in FIG. 5.

FIG. 1 illustrates a rotationally symmetrical pot saucer 1 having acircumferential rim comprising a vertical inner wall 4, and outer wall3. A bore 6 is provided in the horizontal upper edge 5 of the rim. Thebottom part 8 of a plant-supporting pin 7 is pushed into the bore 6. Thepin 7 also has an upper part 9 which will be positioned generallyvertically when the saucer 1 stands on a horizontal surface. The upperpart 9 of the pin is connected to the bottom part 8 thereof by means ofa connecting part 10 which places the upper part 9 in the vicinity ofthe central symmetrical axis 11 of the saucer 1 in the shown rotationalposition of the pin 7 around the axis represented by the bottom part 8of said pin. This rotational position is defined by two fingers 12, 13,which are mutually parallel and engage the inner wall 4 of said rim whenthe bottom part 8 of the pin engages in the bore 6, as illustrated inFIG. 2. The bore 6 is slightly closer to the inner wall 4 than to theouter wall 3, therewith enabling the pin 7 to be mounted on the rim 2 ina rotationally secured position as illustrated in FIG. 3 and spacedthrough 180° from the position shown in FIG. 2, wherein the fingers 12,13 lie against the outer wall 3 of said rim. The connecting part 10 maybe straight and will preferably define an angle of about 135° with thepin parts 8, 9. The pin part 8 has a length which places the connectingpart 10 above the rim of a plant pot 21.

It will be evident that a central stem 20 growing from a plant in a pot21 that stands on the saucer 1 can be easily supported, by tying a bandaround the stem 20 and the upper part 9 of the pin, as shown in FIG. 1.It is also evident that a further pin 7 can be fitted into the bore 6 onthe diametrically opposite side of the saucer, so as to improve planttying stability.

FIG. 4 shows two pins 7 fitted into two diametrically opposed rim bores6, with the orientations illustrated in FIG. 3. The upper parts 9 of thepins are extended with tubular members 15, which may be telescopic, andthe upper ends of the tubular element 15 receive, in turn, the ends of aspringy arcuate member 16, which has a generally straight shape memoryand which therefore strives to spring apart the two remaining ends ofthe tubular elements 15. A framework can be fitted in the loop or archformed by the pins 7, the members 15 and the arch 16, and in oneembodiment the framework or latticework 17 is formed by a preferablyelastic line 18 wound in zig-zag fashion in the established arch. Thedistance between the upper parts 9 of the two pins 7 is nowapproximately twice the diameter of the saucer, so as to providesufficient space for tying or securing trailing or climbing plants in anaxial plane to the saucer 1.

As shown in FIG. 4, the saucer rim 2 may be provided on its outside withtwo diametrically opposed bulges 22. Each bulge is also provided with abore 6 for receiving the pin part 8. The bottom pin part is alsoprovided with two vertical fingers 12, 13 which lie respectively againstthe outer wall 3 of the rim adjacent the bulge 22. The bore 6 is placedalong a line which connects the two fingers 12, 13 as viewed in FIG. 5,therewith enabling the modified pin of the embodiment in FIGS. 5 and 6to have two stable attachment positions that are mutually spaced through180°.

I claim:
 1. A supporting device for potted plants, comprising:a potsaucer having a longitudinal axis, the pot saucer having an edge portionhaving a top portion with a bore defined therein, the pot saucer havingan inner wall; a support pin that is removably attached to the potsaucer, the support pin including a first member and a second memberthat is substantially parallel to the first member, the second memberbeing radially displaced relative to the first member; and an attachmentmechanism disposed at a bottom end of the first member to attach thesupport pin to the pot saucer so that the second member is adjacent tothe longitudinal axis of the pot saucer, the attachment mechanismcomprises a first, a second and a third protruding finger of which thesecond finger is in operative engagement with the bore defined in theedge portion of the pot saucer.
 2. The supporting device according toclaim 1 wherein the pot saucer has at least one other diametricallyopposed bores defined therein, each bore has a support pin insertedtherein.
 3. The supporting device according to claim 1 wherein thefirst, second and third finger form an isosceles triangle.
 4. Thesupporting device according to claim 1 wherein the bore is disposedthrough the top surface nearer the inner wall than an outer wall of thepot saucer.
 5. The supporting device according to claim 1 wherein thefirst, second and third fingers protrude in the same plane and aresubstantially parallel to the support pin, the pot saucer has aprotrusion at an outer wall, the bore is defined adjacent the protrusionso that the second finger engages the bore and the first and the thirdfinger engage the outer wall on each side of the protrusion.
 6. Thesupporting device according to claim 2 wherein the pot saucer has twodiametrically opposed protrusions, each protrusion defines each of saidbores.
 7. The supporting device according to claim 1 wherein the supportdevice has more than one support pin, each support pin has an extensionmember attached thereto, a flexible bridge member is attached to theextension member to form an arch, the arch has an upper part with afirst radius and a lower part has a second radius, the first radius isgreater than the second radius.
 8. The supporting device according toclaim 1 wherein the support device has more than one support pin and aresilient bridge member that form an arch.
 9. The supporting deviceaccording to claim 8 wherein an elastic wire is attached to the arch ina zig-zag fashion and the resilient bridge member urges the support pinsto move away from one another.
 10. The supporting device according toclaim 1 wherein the first and third finger are in operative engagementwith the inner wall of the pot saucer so that the support pin is firmlyheld against the pot saucer, the support pin being movable between afirst position and a second position, the first position and secondposition forming an angle that is about 180 degrees.